SUGGESTIONS FOR ROOM COMPOSITION
Consideration of use will guide one to desirable groupings of various pieces. Consideration of balance will prevent placement of the pieces of heavy furniture on one side or one end of the room. Groupings of chairs and their accessories of lamps and stands should be made so as to foster social amenities.
The following suggestions for room composition have been offered by one specialist in the field of interior decoration:[20]
1. Furniture should always be arranged with the purpose of the room uppermost in thought.
2. Each individual piece should be placed so that it is convenient, so that its use is obvious, and so that it is not interfered with by other pieces nearby.
3. Pieces should be distributed so that circulation is not interfered with. Keep furniture away from door openings or passageways.
4. Furniture should be practically placed in its relation to the architectural or mechanical features, so that there is no interference with the use of such features. Particular attention should be given to the swing of doors, the opening of windows, and the operation of electrical or heating devices.
5. The location of movable pieces of furniture should be carefully studied for their compositional relationship to the fixed architectural features—doors, windows, built-in furniture, alcoves, niches, mantels, paneling, etc.
6. An agreeable balance of high and low pieces of furniture should be introduced. High curtained windows and doors may be substituted for high pieces of furniture in a composition.
7. The quantity of furniture used should not give the effect of either under-furnishing or overcrowding.